Bill would make transformative investments in wildfire response, forest restoration and community resilience
information released
Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz’s top legislative priority, House Bill 1168, to better prepare for and prevent catastrophic wildfires in Washington state, recently passed the House of Representatives unanimously.
House Bill 1168 is sponsored by Rep. Larry Springer (D-Kirkland) and Rep. Joel Kretz (R-Wauconda). The bipartisan legislation – developed by a wide-ranging coalition of firefighters, fire chiefs, tribes, environmentalists, public health advocates, and forest products companies – would create a first-of-its-kind dedicated funding account of $125 million every biennium to boost wildfire response, accelerate forest restoration, and support community resilience.
“I appreciate all the work by legislators, stakeholders, my team and others that has gone into moving this critically important legislation through the House. Today, we celebrate this milestone; tomorrow we will continue to fight to get this bill across the finish line,” said Commissioner Franz, who leads the state’s wildfire fighting force. “Lawmakers realize, after years of watching our towns, forests, and grazing lands go up in smoke, that it’s time to act. It’s time to protect our forests and communities by investing in on-the-ground work to prepare for, and prevent, catastrophic wildfires across our state.”
The bill comes on the heels of a historically destructive 2020 fire season in Washington, during which over 800,000 acres burned in more than 1,600 fires and 298 homes were destroyed, including the near total destruction of the town of Malden. For two of the last three years, Washington has experienced the worst air quality in the world due to wildfire.
“We have to do something. The idea that we should just wait for a bigger snowpack or wetter summer is not a plan,” said Rep. Springer during today’s floor debate on the bill. House Bill 1168 is a well-worked bill and is needed this year after the wildfire season we saw last year and previous years that caused devastating losses to communities, including the loss of lives, he told his colleagues today.
“We’ve nibbled around the issue the past few years,” said Rep. Kretz, who spoke to the need for the bill this year. “The cost is immeasurable on the ground – the cost to communities and society. Many of the biggest impacts have been on the lowest income residents in my community. Wildfire has created, essentially, a homelessness crisis. And, the health impacts of the smoke are real. For those of us in the heart of wildfire, it can mean weeks of not being able to see the sun.”
“We’re already paying $150 million on average each year just to fight wildfires. Our communities are paying, too, from the destruction of towns like Malden, to lost jobs and resources, to inhaling the toxic air that blankets our skies,” said Commissioner Franz. “If we don’t take the proactive steps outlined in this bill today, we’ll never get ahead of our forest health and wildfire crisis.”
Last year’s wildfires rivaled the historic 2015 wildfire season that saw more than 1 million acres burn and cost the state more than $342 million.
The state’s trajectory for wildfire severity has worsened in recent years, climbing from 293,000 acres burned in 2016 to 438,000 in 2018 to over 812,000 acres burned in 2020.
House Bill 1168 now heads to the Senate for consideration. The 105-day legislative session is slated to adjourn April 25.
